Meta Plans $10 Bn Undersea Internet Cable Across The Globe

The successful implementation of the undersea internet cable will make Meta the first company in the world to have its own private internet network.

Social media giant Meta is reportedly planning to build an undersea internet cable that will spread across the globe and be privately operated by the organization. The proposed cable would cost nearly $10 billion to make and comes with multiple challenges, making the implementation tough.

According to the reports, Meta may schedule the 25,000-mile optical fiber cable under the sea from early next year onwards. These cables would power the entire Meta ecosystem, including its key product offerings of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Currently, Meta collectively attracts more than 22% of mobile traffic globally. With the installation of the undersea internet network, the company can successfully eliminate reliance on external service providers and operators.

The envisioned $10 Billion undersea internet cable will be used solely by Meta, making it the first company in the world to have its private internet network. According to the proposed plan, the internet cable route would begin from the East Coast of the US to India via South Africa — then from India via Australia to the US’ West Coast.

Before the cable arrives, Meta will have multiple checkpoints to accomplish, including global compliances, international sea regulations, inter-country relations, and raw material supply. Ranulf Scarborough, a submarine cable industry analyst, told a news media agency that the supply for cable ships is real tight. He continued, “They’re expensive at the minute and booked out several years ahead. Finding the available resources to do it soon is a challenge.”

If completed, this will become the world’s first and biggest privately operated optical fiber cable project. The global cable systems are currently shared partly by Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and other top tech players, but none has their own private cable networks. While this may be the primary motivation factor for Meta to take up the ambitious project, there are more.

According to Meta, in recent times, the geopolitical disturbance has resulted in significant collateral and direct damages to the existing subsea cables. Last week, an internet cable was cut in the European waters over Sweden, calling out China to cooperate in an ongoing investigation on a ship controlled by the communist nation. In May, US national security officials also warned Meta, along with other key players operating from the US, that undersea internet cables are at high risk of tampering by China-controlled ships. These factors are enough to inspire immediate action by the tech giant to build its privately-run network.